He then offered a remarkably candid explanation for why another campaign remains on his mind.
“Once you go through the thought process of convincing yourself that you can be president, and then the next step that you should be president, that doesn’t leave your brain,” he admitted. “So, the way I look at this is, if I’m going to go back home to my wife and say, ‘I know you may not believe this, but third time is the charm,’ like, I better have a real theory,” he continued. “And what she has said to me is, ‘Chris, I want to see the path.’”
There is one major problem for Christie: Republican voters have already heard his argument against the Trump-era GOP.
They overwhelmingly went in another direction.
Christie Is Watching the Midterms
Christie ended his 2024 campaign in January of that year, before the Iowa caucuses, after building his candidacy largely around opposition to Donald Trump.
Now he appears to believe the upcoming midterm elections could create an opening for a different conversation inside the Republican Party.
“For our party’s sake, if we do a lot of losing six weeks from today, I wonder whether we’re going to say, ‘OK, we need to change this approach,'” Christie said.
In another version of those remarks, Christie suggested substantial Republican losses could prompt debate over which faction should dominate the GOP.
That puts considerable weight on the November results.
But even if Republicans perform poorly, Christie would still have to persuade GOP primary voters that he is the person to lead whatever comes next — a difficult proposition considering his history with the party’s current base.
Christie finished sixth in New Hampshire during his 2016 campaign before dropping out. Eight years later, he withdrew from the 2024 contest before Republicans began casting primary votes.
Trump, meanwhile, ultimately returned to the White House.
A Very Different 2028 Field Is Taking Shape
Christie would also be entering a Republican landscape filled with figures far more closely associated with the current administration.
Vice President JD Vance has openly acknowledged thinking about 2028, although he has repeatedly emphasized that his immediate focus is his current job and the midterm elections.
Asked by Sean Hannity about his political future, Vance explained that he tries to push presidential speculation aside while serving as vice president.
“So we’re going to win the midterms, we’re going to do everything that we can to win the midterms, and then after that, I’m going to sit down with the president of the United States and talk to him about it,” Vance said.
Vance has stopped short of formally declaring a campaign and has indicated that any decision would come later.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is another prominent Republican whose name regularly surfaces in 2028 discussions.
Rubio, however, recently said he has no current plans to run.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I have no plans at this time,” Rubio said. “I’m not a candidate for anything right now, and I’m 100% focused on my job, and I have to be because I have two jobs.”
Rubio currently serves as both secretary of state and national security adviser, giving him an unusually prominent position inside the Trump administration.
Christie Still Has to Answer the Biggest Question
Christie’s problem is not simply that he has already lost twice.
It is that his political argument has repeatedly collided with the direction Republican primary voters have chosen.
His 2024 campaign was explicitly built around challenging Trump when many other Republicans were reluctant to do so. Christie bet that a significant portion of the party wanted an aggressive anti-Trump alternative.
That constituency never became large enough to make him competitive.
Trump went on to secure the Republican nomination and return to the presidency.
Now Christie is looking toward 2028 and wondering whether midterm setbacks might finally convince Republicans to reconsider the party’s direction.
Perhaps the midterms will spark an internal debate. Perhaps they won’t.
Either way, a third Christie campaign would immediately confront the same fundamental question that dogged his previous run: Where is his Republican primary coalition?
Vance occupies the vice presidency and remains deeply connected to Trump’s governing coalition. Rubio holds two major national-security positions in the administration. Other Republican governors, senators and administration figures could also enter the field.
Christie himself has acknowledged that he needs more than ambition before asking his family — and Republican voters — to endure another presidential campaign.
He needs a path.
And after two unsuccessful attempts at the White House, proving that such a path exists may be the hardest part of a potential third run.
